Autographic register



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AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTER Filed June 22, 1934 Q. QN)

Patented Mar. 10, 1936 AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTER VBernardA. Schroeder,Evanston, Ill., assignor to United Autographic Register Co., acorporation of Illinois Application June 22, 1934, Serial No. 731,953

7 Claims.

This invention lrelates particularly to autographic registers employingcontinuous-form stationery strips.

'The primary object of the invention is to pro- 15 vide a simple form ofmechanical feed for the strips which cooperates with a tensioning-deviceat the rear of the platen to tension the strips during the Writingo-peration.

A .further object ofthe invention is to provide l mechanism whereby thestrips are drawn back into alignment at the beginning of a feeding`operation, that is, after the forms have been lled in.

The invention is illustrated in a preferred embodiment in theaccompanying drawing, in

which- Fig. 1 is a broken longitudinal sectional View of Van autographicregister embodying the invention; "Fig.'2, a transverse sectional Viewtaken as indicated at ,line 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 a broken plan View of aportion of ,theY tensioning mechanism;

and Fig. il, a broken side elevational view showthe crank-lockingdevice.

In `the embodiment illustrated, A designates a `\o :a. ,sir1g jB, 4aplaten forming a vtop closure for ,25 'ltheasing A; C, a skeleton-cover;D, feed-mechanism; `and E, tensioning-mechanism.

The `casing A may be of any desired construction, preferably having abottom wall 5 and sidewalls "6 which form a receptacle for a packet of90 QOIlIinuOuS- form strips 1. The casing may be further provided withan abutment 8 to prevent the supply of stationery from coming in contactwith the feed-mechanism D.

The platen B is pivotally connected at 9 to 35 vthe side-walls of thecasing A. The platen is iprovided with longitudinal slots I0 throughwhich register-pins may project into the path of the stationerystrips 1. A guide-roll II is journaled in the side-walls of the casingand directs the 40 strips from the supply-compartment around the rear ofthe platen to writing position.

Preferably, the skeleton-cover C is pivotally connected to the sidewalls of the casing at its 'upper front portion as indicated at I2. Thecover 45 has an open portion I3 to permit access to the stationerystrips. The cover is provided at its rear portion with a snap button I4which engages a depression in the rear wall of the register and holdsthe skeleton-cover in position. Preferably,

50 .the cover is provided with downwardly struck portions I5, overlyingthe slots I0 in the platen so that the stationery strips will be pressedinto contact with the register-pins. The front portion of theskeleton-cover may be provided with 55 a housing I6 for an upperfeed-roll and the front edge-portion of the housing may be sharpened toform a tear-off edge I1. Carbo-n strips I8 may be interleaved betweenthe stationery strips 'I over the platen, and held in position by theskeletoncover.

The feed-mechanism D comprises a shaft I9 equipped with an operatinghandle 29 having a notch 2l in its end-portion adapted to be engaged bya pivotally-mounted spring catch 22. A feed-disk 23 is lixedly mountedon the shaft l0 near its central portion and is flanked by two segmentalfeed-disks 24, connected to each other at 25 and adjustablyV held inposition by means of a thumb-screw 25. .The feed-disks are provided withslots 2l so that by loosening the thumbl5 screw 25 the feeding length ofthe feed-disk 23 may be effectively lengthened. The shaft I9 is furtherprovided with a pair of cams 28 which raise and lower thetensioning-mechanism E. An Y upper feed-roll 29 is journaled in thehousing I6 20 andcooperates with the adjustable feed-wheel to feed outstationery when the crank 20 is rotated. v

The tensioning-mechanism E is supported on a pair of rearwardlyextending arms 3|] which 25 are pivotally mounted on the side walls ofthe casing at 3l. The front ends of the arms are provided withprojections 32 which engage cams 28. A pair of tension-springs 33 urgethe front ,ends of the arms 3|] upwardly. Between the rear 30end-portions of the arms 3|! is secured a U-shaped frame 34 by means ofscrews 35. Lateral endportions of the frame 3d may be turned inwardly asindicated at 34a and struck downwardly and inwardly to provideguide-Ways 36. Upon the 35 guide-ways 36 a cross-,member 31 is slidablymounted and is urged rearwardly by means of tension-springs 38. Thecross-bar is provided on its lower side with stirrups 39 which supportregister-pins 40 which are yieldingly urged up- 40 wardly by means ofcompression-springs 4I.

As shown in Fig. 1, the arms 30 are provided with additional tappedperforations 42 so that the frame 3d may be adjusted to take care ofvarious lengths of forms. These adjustments, of 45 course, must conformwith the adjustments on the feed-roll D.

To operate the machine, after a writing operation, the spring-stop 22 isdepressed and the crank revolved until it is re-engaged by said stop. Atthe beginning of the operation the cut-away portion of the feed-wheelcomes opposite to the upper feed-roll 29 and the strips are released sothat the register-pins do may draw the strips rearwardly a shortIdist-ance under the influence of springs 38 and thereby align thestationery. As the crank is further rotated, the feed-wheel re-engagesthe stationery and feeds out one formlength. The cam 28 is adjusted sothat immediately after the pins have retracted the strips the arms 3Uwill lower the tensioning-device from engagement with the stationery andthe device will not be brought back into operative position until thefeed of a form-length has been practically completed. At this time thecam 28 will cause the tensioning-device to be raised and the pins to beyiel-dingly urged against the strips until they encounter a set ofregister-perforations 43 and draw the pins and the member 31 forwardly.Preferably, this movement is very small, a quarter of an inch beingsufcient. Thus it will be understood that during the writing operationthe strips are gripped at their front end by means of the feed-rolls andheld under tension at the rear end by means of pins 40. It may be notedthat the aligning is accomplished after a writing operation instead ofbefore as has heretofore been the practice. However, the aligning ismore of a checking operation as the strips seldom are more than le of aninch out of register and this does not interfere, materially, with themanifolding of the strips.

The foregoing description has been given for clearness of understandingonly, and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom, butthe appended claims should be construed as broadly as permissible inview of the prior art.

I claim: Y Y

1. An autographic register comprising: a casing having a platen overwhich stationery strips provided with register perforations may bevdrawn from the rear; feed mechanism at the front of said pl-aten foradvancing said strips; tensioning and aligning means near the Vrear ofsaid platen comprising spring retractable register pins adapted toengage perforations in the strips and be moved forwardly therewith; andmeans for releasing the strips at the front of the platen while undertension and means for withdrawing the pins from the perforations afterthe tension has been released. Y

2. Mechanism as specied in claim 1, in which the means for withdrawingthe pins from the from the rear; feed-mechanism at the front of saidplaten for advancing said strips; tensioning mechanism at the rear ofsaid platen comprising a forwardly movable member, springs urging saidmember rearwardly, and registerpins mounted on said member so as to beyieldingly urged upwardly towards said strips into the path of theforwardly advancing perforations; and a lever supporting at its rear endsaid tensioning-mechanism and having its front end in operativeengagement with said feed-mechanism.

4. Mechanism as specified in claim 3, in which the feed-mechanism isequipped with a cam for actuating the lever-arm in timed relation to thefeeding of the strips and said lever is in the form of apivotally-mounted rock-arm.

5. Mechanism as specified in claim 3, in which the feed-mechanism isequipped with a cam for actuating the lever in timed relation to thefeeding of strips, and said cam is shaped so as to move thetensioning-mechanism into engagement with the stationery aftersubstantially a form-length has been fed out of the register.

6. An autographic register comprising: a casing; a platen pivotallyconnected to the upper rear portion of said casing; a skeleton-coverpivotally connected to the upper front portion of said casing over saidplaten and adapted to permit access to stationery strips provided withregister-perforations led over said platen from v the rear;feed-mechanism in the front of said casing for advancing said strips;aligning and tensioning-means at the rear of said platen adapted toengage said perforations and exert ayielding rearward tensio-n thereon;means for releasing the strips from the feed-mechanism while undertension to permit the vtensioning-means to drawthem rearwardly intoalignment; and means for withdrawing the pins from the perforationsafterthe tension has been released.

7. An autographic register comprising: a casing having a platen overwhich stationery strips provided with register-perforations may be drawnfrom the rear; feed-mechanism at the front of said platen for advancingsaid strips; tensioning mechanism at the rear of said platen comprisingforwardly movable register-pins, means for yieldingly urging said pinsupwardly into the path' of the forwardly advancing strips, and means foryieldingly urging said pins rearwardly; and a lever supportmg at itsrear end said tensioning mechanism and having its front end in operativeengagement with said feed-mechanism.

l BERNARD A. SCHROEDER.

